A/N: Hey everyone! It's Madds, back from the dead! Now fully equipped with internet half the time, so I'm going to try to update more frequently. This is the first chapter in a little series, I don't know how long it's going to be, but it will take up two weeks. Also, there's a new character at the end of this chappie, my OC, she'll be the last character to join so now there's an even balance of boys and girls. I'm dedicating this chapter to everyone who's reviewed, especially dArkliTe-sPirit who read the entire thing in one go (or so I gathered from the nice review). Sorry it took so long to update, I should be back on a decent schedule soon. Special thanks to Nikki (aka MidnightCrime) for convincing me to put my character in there. Also, sorry if there's any spelling errors. I only have notepad on my computer and it doesn't have spellcheck. And sorry for my long-ass author's note, I like to ramble. Happy Valentines day everyone, by the end of tomorrow (the 14th, yay!) I should have a beau that smells incredible! I love you all, especially if you review! I don't care if you love it/shove it but it brightens my day to see a review in my inbox.

Lots of love,

Maddy

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"RUN!" Greg yelled as the bell rang on the last day of school. They'd been milling around in the auditorium after a speech by the principal. Immediately, everyone bolted for the doors, spilling out onto the blacktop, out across the streets, and into the June sunshine. Laughing exhaustedly, Gil, Jim, Cat, Sara, Greg, Nick, Warrick, Mia, Archie, Heather and Natasha walked across the street and towards the usual coffee shop. When they arrived, Alison (their favorite barista) grinned. "I thought I might see you today," she said. "What's the haps?"

Catherine laughed. "Ally, no one says 'what's the haps' anymore. Mia still hasn't gotten another note from the mystery boy, though." She shot a meaningful look at Archie. His courage had waned after the first poem.

"Well, I guess I should start making your coffee, you teenagers like to have caffiene with your air nowadays," Alison snickered.

As she left, Greg cleared his throat importantly. "I've got a proposition, ladies and gentlemen," he said, grinning. "My best childhood pal, Maddy Jenne, has offered to take us, all eleven of us, for a couple of weeks in July at her house in Tamales Bay, California. I don't know what makes her think she can handle all of us, but she's always making reckless descisions like this. Anyway, whaddaya say? She's hell bent on teaching us to ballroom dance. And there's rumors that she's coming to live with her aunt here in Vegas next year, so she wants to meet some people."

"Sweet!" Catherine said loudly. "We're gonna hit the beach, and do California stuff, and it's gonna be great!"

"Sounds like a blast," Nick answered, taking a coffee from the tray Alison offered before returning to the counter. "When?"

"First two weeks of July, the first to the fourteenth," Greg replied, secretly glad that Nick was so enthusiastic. Maddy had agreed, as per Greg's request, to try to get Nick to fall for her, leaving Sara for Greg.

Sara, counting on her fingers, exclaimed, "That's only eight days away!"

"Yeah," Warrick put in, "shame they had to extend the school year an extra week for starting late in September."

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Seven days later, almost everyone was frantically packing for the two weeks in sunny Tamales bay. Greg had advised everyone on what to bring, and although he'd seemed ready and organized, he was the last one packing. Tossing swim trunks and a few pairs of shorts in a bag, he stood up.

"Crap," he said out loud. With the jumbled mess in the bag, he would never be able to get it closed. Giving an involuntary shudder, he realized the only alternative. Folding. Grumpily, he picked up the bag and emptied its contents on the bed. He picked up a shirt, folded it, and realized how long it was going to take to get everything packed.

"I guess I'd better get going," he grimaced, putting the shirt in the bag as well as a clean pair of black pants and a dress shirt, which (for reasons he wasn't sure of yet) Maddy had told him to bring. She'd asked everyone to bring some nice, semi-formal attire, for a surprise she had in store. But no one realized just how many surprises Greg's childhood friend was going to spring on them. Not yet, anyway.

Meanwhile, Catherine was having similar troubles. Although everything was perfectly folded, it seemed her bag wouldn't close. She took out two swimsuits, leaving her two favorite in the bag. Deciding she wouldn't needvery many pairs of pants, she took a few out and shut zipped the bag shut with only a slight difficulty. A short black skirt with red petticoats and a corset, heels, and the box with Gil's Christmas present to her were nestled at the bottom of the bag. "Maybe that's why it seems like I brought so much," she thought to herself. "I wonder what we need all that fancy crap."

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Sara had meticulously packed the previous night, which left her, on her last night in Las Vegas, free to wonder about the mysterious childhood friend of Greg's that would take in 10 strangers for two weeks. She'd gone out skating to better clear her head, admiring the stars, the view that you couldn't get on the Strip. She thought about Tamales Bay. Where she'd grown up. And, consequently, where she'd witnessed her father's murder and her mother's conviction. She could feel herself tearing up, right there under the clear black sky, and she let herseslf go. No one could hear, no one could see, no one would care. She sat on a park bench, leaning back and taking deep breaths. She wanted to cry for hours there, or to vomit, or die, or anything jus to prove she was alive; human.

Rubbing a hand across her face, she picked up her skateboard under one arm, and began the long walk home. No one but the stars, the sky, and the cool breeze playing across her face had seen her break down. Or so she thougt. From behind a tree, Ecklie stepped, watching Sara's retreating form. He hadn't meant to find her there, crying, but there she had been, and, like a passerby on the scene of a horrible car wreck, he'd been unable to tear his eyes away.

In another state entirely, Maddy Jenne stared out her window, smiling to herself. Starting tomorrow, it was going to be one hell of a couple of weeks for Greg and his friends, and it was going to end in romance if she had her way.

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P.S. Maddy's last name is pronounced like Jenny. It's my actual name, lol. Thanks again for reading, please review!